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Food

Ripe for the picking

Tampa Bay area U-pick farms offer insight into the changing nature of produce farming.

By LAURA REILEY
Published April 11, 2007

At Hunsader Farms in Bradenton, a green bean waits for harvesting. The farm also has strawberries, rhubarb, cauliflower, broccoli, onions and other vegetables.
	[Times photo: Skip O’Rourke]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Skip O’Rourke] Betty and Len Stanton pick strawberries from the towers of Hydro Harvest Farms in Ruskin. “This is a lot easier on the back,” says Mrs. Stanton.

Most of us are so far removed from where our food comes from that it's difficult to even envision its provenance. If we concentrate, we may conjure long, symmetrical rows of green leaves fringing the tops of loamy hills, or farmhands extracting jewel-tone strawberries or giving a little yank to unearth a young carrot.

That's part of the picture, but taking a field trip to local U-pick farms reveals 21st century farms that look nothing like this. Technology is changing the way farmers coax their crops into being. A visit nets a lesson and a whole lot of fresh produce.

"Soil comes with history, good or bad," says Gary Parke of Parke Hydro in Dover. The Parke family just celebrated its 40th year of growing strawberries in soil, but just the second year of farming hydroponically.

"We had customers asking us to grow without pesticides," Parke says. "Growing hydroponically, we can grow organically and all year-round. On a half-acre of ground I have 15 acres' worth of crops."

The technology is called the "Hydrostacker," with five vertical layers of foam pots containing four plants per layer. The layers rotate, much like a spinning sunglass display in a drugstore, making it easier for pickers to find what's ripe and eliminating kneeling or squatting. Invented by Myakka City resident Chester Bullock, the system has each plant nestled in a sterile medium of vermiculite and perlite - no soil involved.

"Lots of traditional pests come out of soil," says John Lawson, another hydroponic convert and owner of Hydro Harvest in Ruskin. Lawson started building his farm last May, planting his first crop in August. The vermiculite holds the water the plants need and the perlite doesn't absorb liquid; all nutrients are given to the plants through the water supply.

"I read about these hydroponic towers, and I thought it was a great idea since we're running out of agricultural land and out of water. Hydroponic farming addresses both issues. We're not certified organic, but we use organic practices and we use way less pesticides than a traditional farm," Lawson says.

A big selection, a smaller price

Both farms are open year-round for U-pick, offering an astounding number of vegetables as well as strawberries, all priced by the pound. At Parke Hydro, visitors move through the tight rows choosing from 45 vegetables, including radishes, carrots, squash, peppers, tomatoes, lettuces, greens and snap peas.

"It's the freshest produce aisle you've ever been in," Parke says, joking.

Hydro Harvest has a similar array, from romaine and bibb lettuce to yellow squash, zucchini and pole beans. Lawson is experimenting with tomatoes, working on growing heirloom species he expects to be ripe sometime in this month. Still, he urges U-pickers to head over right away: "Right now is the best time of year for sheer variety and volume. I'm buried in strawberries."

Prices fluctuate, but they are invariably lower than those at the grocery, making U-picking a natural for the thrifty shopper.

"With the tomatoes, we try to hold them at $1.50 a pound," says Lawson. "We're just here to make a living, not challenge Bill Gates at the top of the Fortune 500."

Traditional farmers are more at the mercy of the weather and growing conditions, their prices fluctuating accordingly.

Kevin Wheeler, seventh-generation farmer and owner of U-pick Wheeler Farms in Balm, in southern Hillsborough County, has firsthand knowledge of this.

Folks looking to pick his black-eyed peas, zipper peas, conk peas and fordhooks like big lima beans are going to have to wait a bit this year.

"We're not doing U-pick right now. This year it will be closer to the end of May. Farming is not like clockwork; things set you back. The (March) cold snap surprised us a little - it came and went and came back again."

Twinkle, twinkle, little plants

There are other ways for farmers to cope with the whims of Mother Nature, according to James Lee, owner of U-pick Lee Vineyards in Dover. Program director and vice president of the Tampa Rare Fruit Council, Lee grows 100 varieties of fruit in his yard and at his nearby farm, many of them unusual species of citrus or grapes. With his more fragile tropical species such as passionfruit, mango, papaya, lychee and longan, Lee has a unique solution for coping with the cold.

"I use Christmas lights to keep the plants warm in the winter. It's better than covering the plants. You wrap them just like you would wrap your Christmas tree and leave them there December to February - just switch them on when it gets cold."

The vision of rows of delicate tropical plants illuminated by twinkling lights in an empty field is a magical one, but it's during the summer that U-pickers move through those rows selecting grapes, persimmons, starfruit and other ripe fruits. Lee charges 80 cents a pound for grapes, which can be harvested in just a couple of minutes.

"People taste a variety that they like, then start picking. Refrigerated, they will last a week. Or, you can share it with friends. They should eat more fruit, it's good for them," he says.

A new addition to his farm, the vineyard was saved from destruction a couple of years ago.

"The owner was going to bulldoze it for houses. I wanted to save it so people could come and get grapes and cuttings," Lee says. "I always want to make the world greener for everybody else."

Laura Reiley can be reached at (727) 892-2293 or lreiley@sptimes.com.

U-pick farms

- Hydro Harvest Farms, 1101 Shell Point Road E, Ruskin; (941) 915-7208; hydroponic vegetables and strawberries, year-round 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

- Parke Hydro Farms, 3715 Tanner Road, Dover; (813) 927-4049 and www.parkehydro.com; hydroponic vegetables and strawberries, year-round 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

- Wheeler Farms, 14801 Balm Road, Balm (southern Hillsborough County); (813) 634-1868; beans and peas, May and June.

- Lee Vineyards, 10251 McIntosh Road, Dover; (813) 335-1865; tropical and exotic fruits, grapes, during the summer.

- Favorite Farms, 10070 McIntosh Road, Dover; (813) 986-3949; strawberries, open for U-pick only after the commercial season, probably the last week of March and the beginning of April each year.

- Glover's Blueberry Farm, 5615 W.O. Griffin Road, Plant City; (813) 245-6818; blueberries, open for U-pick only after the commercial season, probably mid May through June 1.

- Hunsader Farms, 5500 County Road 675, Bradenton; (941) 331-1212 and www.hunsaderfarms.com; strawberries, rhubarb, cauliflower, broccoli, onions and other vegetables, year-round 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

[Last modified April 11, 2007, 08:21:31]